Bank Unions Strike: 10 things you need to know
Banks strike alert! Bank employees unions to go on strike on October 22 against the Centre's decision to merge 10 state-run Public Sector Banks (PSBs) into four. The two unions of bank employees -- All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) have jointly called for the strike.
Bank Strike: 10 you need to know
- The Bank Unions are opposing the merger of;
- Punjab National Bank with United Bank of India Oriental Bank of Commerce,
- Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank,
- Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank
- Andhra Bank with Corporation Bank and Union Bank of India.
- AIBEA and BEFI have called for an all India strike of its members on October 22 to oppose PSBs merger, banking operations could be hit all over the country.
- In a joint statement, the unions said that the strike call is to oppose bank mergers and banking reforms and high penal and service charges for customers. Other demands include recovery of bad loans, stringent action on defaulters charges and job security
- Bank of Maharashtra, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank and Bank of Baroda have warned their operations may be impacted due to the call of strike as per regulatory filings.
- Bank of Baroda said that the operations of its branches/officer may be "affected/paralyzed" due to proposed strike.
- Bank will remain open in Maharashtra and Haryana for only three days this week due to strike, elections and other bank holidays.
- Banks to remain closed for the rest of the country only on Tuesday and not on Monday.
- The State Bank of India (SBI), however, said the impact would be minimal as most of its employees are not members of the participating unions.
- In August, the government announced mega-merger plans for state-run banks in a bid to strengthen the country's financial sector, a move which it said would bring down the number of public sector banks (PSBs) in the system to 12 from 27.
